Date:	Thursday 13 June 1940
Time:	night
Type:	Vickers Wellington Mk 1a
Owner/operator:	9 Sqn RAF
Registration:	L7787
MSN:	WS-J
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 6 / Occupants: 6
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	Drosay (Seine Maritime) 7 km NNW of Doudeville, Seine-Maritime -   France
Phase:	Manoeuvring (airshow, firefighting, ag.ops.)
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	RAF Honington, Suffolk
Destination airport:	RAF Honington, Suffolk

Narrative:
Vickers Wellington Mk.Ia L7787 (WS-J) 9 Squadron, RAF: Written off (destroyed) when lost (Failed To Return) from combat operations over France. All six crew killed. According to the official Air Ministry file into the incident (File AIR 81/888): "Wellington L7787 crashed at Drosay, France, 13 June 1940. Sergeant C B Kircher, Sergeant F D Hardy, Sergeant F R Edwards, Sergeant S F Youngson, Sergeant L W Routledge and Sergeant R Hewitt report of deaths"

Airborne from RAF Honington, Suffolk, as part of a force of 163 aircraft (65 Wellingtons, 64 Hampdens and 34 Whitleys) tasked to attack Pont-de-l'Arche (south of Rouen), France. Written off when crashed after going out of control due to unknown circumstances (possibly hit by Flak/AAA) in the early hours of June 14, 1940. All six crew killed, with Wellington L7787 being the only loss on this raid.

Crew of Wellington L7787:
Sergeant (Pilot) Robert Hewitt, RAF 521236, age 24, killed in action 13/06/1940
Sergeant (Pilot) Frank Richard Edwards, RAFVR 741487, age 21, killed in action 13/06/1940
Sergeant (Observer) Leonard Wingate Routledge, RAF 580737, age 22, killed in action 13/06/1940
Sergeant (Wireless Op./Air Gunner) Frederick Donald Hardy, RAF 624501, age 19, killed in action 13/06/1940
Sergeant (Wireless Op./Air Gunner) Selwyn Frederick Youngson, RAF 632041, age 22, killed in action 13/06/1940
Sergeant (Air Gunner) Cecil Bertram Kircher, RAF 515103, age 27, killed in action 13/06/1940

All six crew fatalities were buried at Drosay Churchyard, Seine-Maritime, France. The reported crash location of Drosay is a commune in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy region in northern France, in the Pays de Caux, some 25 miles (40 km) southwest of Dieppe, at approximate Coordinates: 49°47′42″N 0°44′29″E

1. Royal Air Force Aircraft L1000-L9999 (James J Halley, Air Britain, 1978 p 53)
2. National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR 81/888: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C14502590
3. Peter D. Cornwell, The Battle of France, Then and Now, 2008
4. W.R. Chorley, Bomber Command Losses of the Second World War, Volume 1, 1939/40
5. http://francecrashes39-45.net/page_fiche_av.php?id=186
6. http://www.epibreren.com/ww2/raf/9_squadron.html#131406
7. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2688814/hewitt,-robert/
8. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2688812/edwards,-frank-richard/
9. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2688819/routledge,-leonard-wingate/
10. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2688813/hardy,-frederick-donald/
11. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2688820/youngson,-selwyn-frederick/
12. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2688816/kircher,-cecil-bertram/
13. https://www.baaa-acro.com/crash/crash-vickers-408-wellington-ia-drosay-6-killed
14. http://aircrewremembered.com/hewitt-robert.html
15. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drosay

Other occurrences involving this aircraft

21 June 1942

X3713

9 Sqn RAF

5

near Leenstertillen, Leens, Groningen prv

w/o

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
25-Sep-2019 20:53	Dr. John Smith	Added
25-Sep-2019 20:57	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Narrative]
26-Sep-2019 11:31	stehlik49	Updated [Operator]